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Issue link: http://freshcup.epubxp.com/i/178110
"If you want to look into this, great, but we have not registered the R-Star mark and really don't have any money to spend pursuing it." Fortunately, because of our relationship, Mitchell agreed to look into it for no charge. This was key because we are a small company with no investors and meager capital, and we didn't have the funds to fight a large-scale legal battle. After doing a little research, Mitchell discovered that the other company's date of first use—an important term in trademark law—was officially listed as five months after our own. Knowing that we had time on our side, so to speak, we decided to pursue legal action against the company. However, harming or interfering with that entity's business was never our goal. We merely wanted to protect ourselves from any future litigation. We were looking at opening our second store and did not want to invest in the mark any further without assurances that there would be no legal snares later on. We decided to send the company's lawyers a letter giving them three options: One, they could declare that our mark and theirs did not conflict and agree that both companies could use their respective logos; two, they could buy the mark and we would abandon our claim to it; or three, they could abandon their mark. Again, our primary goal was not financial gain or to cause them any hardship. We merely wanted to know where we stood so we could plan our future accordingly. roasting, preparing and educating our customers about it. We want to do more of it and keep it fun; we are not "out to get" our competitors. And it's important to clarify that you can defend your trademark without filing a trademark, as long as you can prove first use. Mitchell says a company should register its trademark as soon as it has a "bona fide intent" to use it. "Your nationwide preemptive rights accrue as of your application filing date, when your registration issues," he says. "That means that even someone who uses a mark before you do but after your application filing date must give way to your prior rights." continued on page 31 REACHING A RESOLUTION From that point, things went rather quickly and smoothly. The company's attorney made a cash offer to purchase the R-Star mark. After a little haggling, we agreed to a dollar value and an end date. Perhaps the most surprising thing from our perspective was how pleasant the other party was to work with during the resolution. The company's attorneys went out of their way to acknowledge and rectify the situation. As our attorney Mitchell puts it, "Rowster's experience illustrates the importance of being reasonable and realistic in your expectations when enforcing your trademark rights. Rowster's reasonable approach to the company led to a mutually beneficial settlement for both parties." This was key to me. At the end of the day, we went into business because we are passionate about coffee and love sourcing, freshcup.com October 2013 29